1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to wiring and connection management systems for installation of light-emitting diodes (LEDs).
2. Description of Related Art
In the last 15 years, light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have gone from an extravagant curiosity in the lighting industry to a viable and vital lighting source in any number of applications. LEDs require relatively little power, operate at low temperatures, have long life spans, are mechanically robust, and have a small footprint, especially when compared with traditional incandescent, and even fluorescent, light bulbs. All of those attributes make LEDs very advantageous to use in a variety of applications in which traditional lighting technologies would require too much space or generate too much heat, or when accessing and replacing traditional light bulbs would be too laborious or difficult. Additionally, the plethora of LED products on the market offer a variety of light levels (i.e., output lumens), colors, form factors, power supplies, and controls.
As a practical matter, the advantages of LEDs and the range of products that are available mean that an LED solution can be configured for virtually any lighting application. However, configuring LEDs to function in different applications often presents engineering challenges of its own.
One major engineering challenge in configuring LEDs for particular applications is the wiring and cabling necessary to supply the LEDs with power. A typical lighting application may require several different strips or sets of LEDs, each of which needs to be connected to a power supply. In situations where there are several strips or sets of LEDs (e.g., when each shelf of a shelving unit is to be individually lit), the resulting plethora of cords and cables can become an unwieldy tangle, and necessary solder joints can break, if the installers do not take special care to arrange and organize them when the LEDs are installed. However, even a careful, correct LED installation can leave numerous cables dangling—and with all of those cables, it can be difficult to determine whether or not the installation is correct, and equally difficult to prevent accidental damage or disconnection in the field.